Greetings Kind Folks,

Pardon me as I am sure something like this has been covered before but I cannot seem to find it. My Dodge B-150 Ram Wagon Van (225-CI S-6) has been sitting up a couple of years. Reason was that I could not get it to pass strict Atlanta, Georgia emissions the last few years and so I parked it in my carport. Now I no longer need to pass emissions because 1986 year models are newly exempt and I desperately need the van again now for a new job I recently landed.

Prior to parking I ran the gas down to empty and added Stabil into the tank. I realize there's going to be bugs but I want to get the van started to determine what all might be haywire. And well, now from the starting point, something is haywire. I am getting no spark to the engine as I can tell. Please keep in mind that I am not a seasoned mechanic. Diagnostics is not my forte at all.

I have a brand new battery and the starter is turning strong. The distributer looks good, the plug wires and plugs are good. So this leaves a couple components within the electrical system. Any ideas where I might start first to avoid wasting a lot of more than I already did today? The motor is not frozen and even with Valvoline Extra-Strength starting fluid, I cannot even get the engine to budge.

Thanks so much for your help. I have been unemployed for six months due to a mass layoff and about to lose my house as a result. But this van and my new job will hopefully pull me out of my terrible situation.

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"The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers ..." — William Shakespeare

You 1986 van is equipped with some form of lean burn carb and ignition system. The first thing you should do is switch to the HEI ignition system (the swap is detailed in the electrical section of this site) and switch to a non-computer controlled carburetor.

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Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.

If it was running when parked then you may want to check all electrical connection points and wires to make sure nothing is loose, wet, corroded or "chewed-on".
Pull apart the plug connectors and inspect, clean as needed and re-install.

If still no spark, then search-out & follow trouble shooting steps for your ignition system. (do you have a ohm meter or a test light?)

A fall back plan is to swap-in a different ignition system if the lean burn computer has gone bad.
DD

Thanks Fellows. Going through everything step by step now. Hopefully I'll get up and running tomorrow. It's been a heck of a week with my Dodges. My 1973 Dart fried out electrically too. With the Dart I think I have reached that moment of buying a brand new harness and starting from scratch. Speaking of which, does anyone have the link handy for the company up in Canada which offers the NOS-type wiring harnesses for early '70s MOPAR A-Body cars? Cheers!

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"The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers ..." — William Shakespeare

Don't ask me why. My van set with ethanol in the tank for almost 2 years. I primed the carb and the thing fired right up! I got lucky. No nasty smell out the exhaust either.

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'72 Duster 198 stock cam, 3:23's Hookers on jack stands for 8 years in the driveway
'79 Maxivan 360 Offy Qjet Comp RV cam/rusting in the driveway.
93 D350 160HP Cummins Auto Dually Clubcab needs a injector pump
2005 Golden Couch Buick

Hey guys. Forgive me. I am stills struggling with getting the van started. Earlier, I smelled burning plastic and saw a bit of smoke coming from a black box on the firewall. The box has a MOPAR sticker on the front saying R4379215 Control. And then a bunch of tiny writing I cannot read even with my glasses on. Is this a computer unit which in any way controls ignition, etc.? I cannot seem to find the component in my Haynes Manual. Thanks!

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"The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers ..." — William Shakespeare

A quick (very) google search says that this is the electronic spark advance module. So does have to do with ignition, I would guess. Pricey part too, new for about $200.00 bucks.

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Mattelderca
78 NYB (gone now), two S series, three old Snow Cruisers and a Doo.

Thanks. I did a search too. What I found was that this unit is a major part of the "infamous" lean burn system. So I either melted down the spark control computer or the feedback carburetor controller. Or both. I hoping to find one at the junkyard this week. What a nightmare. I am just not any good at all with auto electronics. And this engine in this van is rebuilt with under 10,000 miles on it. I hate to chuck the whole thing for scrap metal money. But at this point I am so frustrated, that scrapping the van is getting more and more appealing. I would love to convert the van to a non-lean-burn system but I have no clue how to even begin doing such a conversion. I wish there was a MOPAR master here in the Atlanta area that could help me out. Below at the link attached is the unit I am talking about.

http://www.allpar.com/mopar/lean-burn.html

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"The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers ..." — William Shakespeare

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<img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3173/2992308402_5481afb26e_t.jpg">

Don't scrap it! That van's a keeper, even if you give up make sure it goes to someone that will save it.

Don't give up hope though, upgrading that system isn't that big a task and maybe someone in your area can help.

This suggestion won't be popular, but if you really got stumped you could drop in a point distributor to get it going. Did that once to a '70s Valiant with a badly hacked harness.

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Believe me. I love this van. I have had it since 1999. And before rebuilding the engine, I drove it all over the United States. Even as far as California from Georgia. And the van has an awesome paint job from the factory. Copper over brown. Looks more like a vintage '70s van than a mid '80s van. But in the past week, my 1973 Dodge Dart's wiring harness melted down completely. My 1985 Volvo 244-DL overheated and I cannot figure out what is wrong with the cooling system. I replaced everything but the radiator itself at this point. And then the van started melting when I tired to start it up. My hot water heater in my house exploded and flooded two rooms in my house. So, I have not had a shower in a week and a half and I currently have no running vehicles. Just having the worse couple of weeks ever. And I think the overall frustration of everything is beating me down. My issue is that I just do not feel comfortable with doing this conversion alone. It's over my head. I can do basic maintenance and change out stuff like carbs, water pumps and so on. But wiring and electric stuff confuses me completely.

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"The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers ..." — William Shakespeare

The HEI conversion is really easy, and if you can do a basic tune up, cange carbs etc its not going to be above your head. There are several articles on the forum dealing with the HEI conversion. You will need a few parts but its going to be a lot cheaper than trying to "fix" the lean burn system.

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MRO....

Cheap, Fast, Reliable.... Pick 2...

Curious. Are there any articles here where I can find which parts to rip out and leave out? For example, since I no longer need to pass emissions, I'd like to take off not just the lean burn system components but also all the emissions crap such as the exhaust blower that mounts to the lower right of the air condition compressor, etc.

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"The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers ..." — William Shakespeare

Probably lots of things you can safely remove from your car, now that you are no longer under the emissions test rules.

But be careful... you might get caught up in "mission creep", a terrible illness that affects many slant owners on this board (myself included!).

Don't fuss with that air pump right now... Just get the thing running with a new HEI or Electronic Ignition System. Then start deleting the other stuff.

- Mac

Hey guys. Some good news. I found a mechanic in the Atlanta area through the vintage MOPAR owners group who specializes in classic MOPARs. His name is Paul Chambers and when I spoke to him he said he new how to do the Lean-Burn conversion and has done several of the jobs recently. He said he just converted a lean burn truck two weeks ago. He's booked for this week but said he could help me out early next week. A real nice guy to boot. So I will report back and let you fellows know how it goes.

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"The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers ..." — William Shakespeare